Mary McDonnell

Mary McDonnell is an actress who has been nominated for two Oscars(r). She is popular for her portrayals as characters in period and contemporary screen roles. Mary Eileen McDonnell is a Pennsylvania-born actress. She was the child of Eileen (Mundy) the Irish-American computer consultant, as well as John McDonnell. She was raised in Ithaca and graduated from Fredonia State University of New York. She later attended drama school , and was accepted into the highly regarded Long Wharf Theatre Company on the East Coast. Her first film role came in Dances with Wolves (1990) by Kevin Costner. She played the part of "Stands with a Fist" who was a Sioux Indian raised white woman. The first time she received an Academy Award nomination was for the character. McDonnell's film credits include the Lawrence Kasdan films Grand Canyon (1991) and Mumford (1999) (opposite other well-known actors like Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier, and Ben Kingsley); Roland Emmerich's Independence Day (1996) (starring Will Smith); acclaimed art house cult-hit Donnie Darko (2001); and Margin Call (2011) (opposite Kevin Spacey), which won her the Robert Altman Award at the 2012 Independent Spirit Awards. McDonnell was a regular on the Syfy Network's award-winning series Battlestar Galactica (2004), in which she was praised for her portrayal of the President Laura Roslin. She was honored with an Emmy nomination for her regular guest role in the TV series ER (1994). She is the lead character of Captain Sharon Raydor on the TNT's top drama show Major Crimes (2012), the sequel to The Closer (2005), where McDonnell originated the role and for which she earned an Primetime Emmy(r) nomination. She garnered an Best Actress Academy Award(r) nomination and a Golden Globe nomination for her performance as the paraplegic soap-opera star in John Sayles' critically acclaimed film, Passion Fish (1992).